Topol lived double life as Mossad agent, his family says

The Israeli actor Chaim Topol lived a double life as an agent for Mossad, his family has said.

The Fiddler on the Roof star died last month aged 87.

He used his fame to gain access to high-profile locations around the world, and used his London home as a base to welcome spies for the Israeli national intelligence agency, his family said.

He often visited embassies, airports and airlines of Arab countries, his widow Galia and children Adi and Omer said in an interview with Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

They claim Topol went on unexplained trips abroad in the 1960s and 70s with a state-of-the-art miniature camera and tape recorder.

“I don’t know exactly what the appropriate definition is for the missions and duties he performed,” his son Omer said.

“But what is clear is that Dad was involved in secret missions on behalf of the Mossad.

“His status in those years was that of an international star, and he could go anywhere he wanted. He had the ability to deliver documents and take pictures without anyone questioning anything.”

But he was “no James Bond or anything like that,” Omer added.

The family said much of Topol’s secret work was carried out when he moved to London for a run of Fiddler on the Roof on the West End.

Topol starred as Tevye the milkman in the 1967 London premiere of Fiddler on the Roof, and in the 1971 Norman Jewison film version.

He toured in the role around the world for decades, reprising the performance more than 3,500 times.

He became one of Israel’s most famous actors, winning two Golden Globe awards, and being nominated for both an Academy Award and a Tony Award.

Announcing his death in Tel Aviv last month, Israeli president Isaac Herzog called him “one of the giants of Israeli culture”.